By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
This time JR Addison is taking on the competition on his home turf. The seventeen-year-old Colonel Crawford junior races competitively in the AMA Pro Flat Track series, which will be coming to Bucyrus on May 17.
Addison’s family has a history competing in racing, starting with his grandpa Bill Bursby and continuing on with his dad. Addison started competing when he was six-years-old.
“We had a track in the yard where he would practice on,” said Addison’s mother, Kim Addison. “So it made me feel better when he started doing it competitively because he actually, I think the first time he rode a dirt bike he was not even two. He actually rode a dirt bike before he could ride a bicycle.”
Addison started out at Sunset Ramblers in Galion. As he got older, he rode in flat track and motocross events but his parents finally said enough was enough. He needed to pick and focus on just one event.
“I picked flat track,” Addison said simply.
Addison started out competing at local races on half mile tracks. In 2007, Addison went to the Grand Nationals for the first time.
“Everyone who thinks they’ll do really good in the nation goes. It was held in DuQuion, Illinois,” Addison explained. “My second year going there in 2008, I won Youth Dirt Tracker of the Year Award. And then, I just kept getting a little better and moving up, and then when I got into a 450, I won the Horizon Award.”
The AMA Horizon Award is given out annually to individuals selected as the most outstanding riders in the AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships. Addison won the award in 2012.
“Last year was my first year as a pro and I ended up 13th overall in the points,” said Addison.
Two rounds into the current series, Addison is in seventh place. He competes all over, from Hagerstown, Maryland, to Pomona, California, to Daytona, Florida. Addison and his family will spend week after week crisscrossing the country competing in races during the season.
With the season running through the spring and summer, Addison has to balance his racing career with school work.
“It’s tough,” said Addison. “I’ve got a lot of work to make up when I get back from long trips.”
Addison may have a hectic schedule but he said he was excited to be able compete in front of his friends and family.
“It’s pretty cool because not a lot of people around here really know the extent to what it is I’m doing so it’ll be cool. A lot of people will get to come see it.”
Addison will be riding a 450 and a 650 Kawasaki Twin when he competes in Bucyrus in May. He will be decked out in riding leathers, boots, a steel shoe on his left foot, and a helmet.
In a motherly tone, Kim Addison added that he will also be wearing a back brace and neck brace while competing.
Just a typical weekend for this warrior.
Addison said he hasn’t been involved in any serious wrecks so far though he has broken his wrist once.
“It’s pretty intense as you get higher up in the ranks and it’s just a lot of fun. With flat track, it’s pretty family-oriented, just about everyone is good friends. Except for on the track,” Addison added cheekily. “It’s a pretty big thrill. On the bigger tracks, the mile you get going like 120 (miles per hour) and you could be four or five (riders) wide and 10 people behind you. It’s pretty crazy.”
Though Addison has been competing on different levels for a while now, his best memory so far took place last year.
“The very last race of the year I got my first win as a pro. I won the last race,” said Addison. That win came on a half mile track in Pomona, California.
“I’m really excited (about this season). I think it will be my best season yet,” said Addison. He is planning on competing in every race on the circuit this year, which amounts to nearly 15 races that are sanctioned by the AMA.
Kim has been around the tracks since she was young with her dad competing. Now, she gets to see her son do it.
“It’s really, I guess, been in my blood. To see my son do it is absolutely amazing,” said Kim.
She especially enjoys the family atmosphere. “The people at this track, everybody gets along. If somebody needs something and they need help, there’s always someone there to help you. If you need a tube for a tire or you need a sprocket, everybody’s always willing to help you out to make sure you get on the track.”
Kim was one of the driving forces to bring the race to Crawford County. She approached the Crawford County Senior Fair Board with the idea. Kim believed it has been about twenty years since Crawford County hosted a flat track race.
“We’ve been working hard with the fair board trying to get the word out. I really think it’s going to turn out well, spectator-wise and rider-wise, because the weekend after that is the AMA National Mile in Springfield, Illinois. So that will get some people here.
“I’m excited, I think it’s great,” said Kim. “I’m glad the fair board decided to do this. I really think this will be good for the town, it’ll be good for everybody all around: the fair board, the town. Just having the business here, hopefully the amount of spectators they’re going to get and the riders they’re going to get.”
If things go well, Kim said there is a possibility that the fairgrounds could host a national race.
“I think it’s extremely important,” the younger Addison said about bringing the races to Crawford County. “The All-Stars series is a pretty big series so it’s going to draw a lot of fast guys and sounds like there’s going to be a pretty big purse so that’ll draw a lot of the bigger guys too, bigger names. Be a lot of fans here, I’m sure.”
Addison will be competing in the 450 Pro class, the Pro Twins class, and the Super Singles class.
“It’s so exciting because just at a little track like the one at the fairgrounds, you get 90 miles an hour, throw it into the corner. It’s like I said, four or five people wide and it could be 10 people lined up behind you after that so it’s pretty crazy,” Addison said.
“It’s one of those things, once you see it you’ll be hooked,” Kim added.
The All-Star National Flat Track Series will be held on May 17 at the Crawford County fairgrounds. General admission for the race will be $15. A pit pass will cost $25. Children five and under can get in free in both areas. Gates open for the event at 2:00 p.m., practice starts at 4:00, and the races will begin at 7:00 p.m.